I recently made a trip to Seattle, Washington, and found the alarm systems there interesting. The SeaTac airport seemed to have a Simplex, and Siemens system. There were some Siemens detectors, and some simplex detectors. The pull stations were Federal Signal 4050-001T style pull stations in the Siemens system with a dual action break glass cover. In the Simplex side, there seem to be RSG RMS-1T pull stations. The N/A’s in the Siemens system are System Sensor MA/SS devices, and in the Simplex side there are Wheelock E70 speaker strobes. Inside the space needle, there is a EST system, with white Genesis speaker strobes with no label. The pulls are SIGA-278 stations, and SIGA-PD detectors.
3 Likes
You’ll definitely find mostly EST and Simplex systems in Seattle for sure. For example the Lumen stadium (where the Seahawks play at) conists of mostly Simplex TrueAlert speaker strobes along with a few various Wheelock speaker strobes on the system as well. Although most pull stations aren’t publicly accessible it has a 4100ES system. The downtown buildings are mostly EST3 systems with Genesis and SIGA devices from what I’ve found.
1 Like
The system at Pike Place Market was a simplex 4100 style system, with weatherproof TrueAlert ES horn strobes, and rod style heat detectors for elevator recall.
I believe you are referring to old Autocall detectors. SeaTac doesn’t have any Siemens systems.
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport - Terminal 1 - Fort Snelling Unorganized Territory, MN
I’ve mentioned most of this system before but here are some more things…
Panel: Honeywell XLS3000 (rebranded Notifier NFS2-3030). The new annunciators are in a metal cabinet for some reason. The old system was an XLS1000 (EST3), and before that an FS90.
Pulls: S464A’s and S464G1007’s
Signals: Despite the large size of this terminal, the old signals may have been horn/strobes due to the backbox extender ring that a couple of of the E70’s are on, and the light rail station still has AS horn/strobes.
Here’s the setup in a recently built addition:
This annunciator isn’t in a metal cabinet unlike the other ones in the terminal.
Pulls: S464G1007’s
Detectors: System Sensor 2251’s
Signals: Wheelock 8-inch speaker/strobes, some of which are on a gigantic backbox.
1 Like
The name of the model series it belongs to is “S8”, which as you might guess likely means “Speaker, 8-inch”.
You might be right, I didn’t know what the detectors were, but they looked like Siemens
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport - Terminal 1 - Fort Snelling Unorganized Territory, MN
Detectors: System Sensor 2251’s
Also, there are 5351’s (heat detectors) in some restrooms.
The previous model (5251) used a ring to indicate it’s a heat detector and not a smoke detector, the 5351 uses a temperature icon.
1 Like
The Vintage Farm House (Holly)
Annunciators/panel:
Silent Knight 5207 model
Detectors:
System Sensor i3-series photoelectric detectors
Notification appliances:
SpectrAlert classic (P241575 or P1224MCR) horn/strobes and strobes
Notably, I could not find a single pull station anywhere in this store.
Holly Antiques (Holly)
This building does not have a full-fledged alarm system, but it does feature two First Alert 8A67D smoke detectors, one of which had its cover open with no battery!
Ohio is like one of the few states with such old fire equipment still and I love it. I only wish you or Old School Fire Alarms would come across some old Edwards systems, I feel like they are becoming less common around here.
I also wonder if they used single stroke bells in other places besides schools and hospitals and such. Would a high rise residental building use them instead? Single stroke bells are my favourite type of fire alarm audible devices. Maybe it’s cause I grew up with them all throughout elementary school, with a small tweak in hearing Mircom horn strobes, to going back to an outdated school with an even older Single stroke bell system. Plus those big 10" bells are pretty commanding in a fire situation.
I don’t know of many vintage Edwards systems in Ohio, but there was a Catholic HS in Bedford (a southern suburb of Cleveland) that had one from 1957 (coded system with 1250 pulls and 360 horns), I don’t know if that system was salvaged before the building was imploded. A comment I read from OSFA said that Edwards systems are more common in the New England states.
I also live in the Midwest (ND to be specific) and most of the buildings from the 50’s-70’s had/have old Simplex systems. The only Edwards systems that I have seen in my area were from the 90’s and those have already been replaced.
Jon Bon Jovi Service Area - Garden State Parkway - Sayreville, NJ
Panel: EST Addressable Panel
Pulls: SIGA-278s
Detectors: SIGA-PSes, SIGA-HRSes, and SIGA-CODs (on sounder bases)
AVs: Genesis horn/strobes and LED Genesis strobes and horn/strobes
Fire Alarms at the Wang YMCA of Chinatown Boston
Alarm #1: Simplex 4903-9144 speaker strobes
Strobe intensity: 110CD (Orange Triangle)
Year: 1999 (Newer Simplex logo prior to Simplex QuickAlert, 9 of them are like that, 3 of them aren’t)
Quantity used at the YMCA: 12 (2 shown down below)
Locations installed: Boys locker room (1), Main lobby entrance (2), Yoga Room (2), Gymnasium (3), Cardio Fitness room (4, 2 on each floor as you walk through a set of stairs) !Pictures of the 4903-9144s: IMG_1362|375x500
Alarm #2: Simplex 4903-9142 speaker strobe: Strobe intensity: 30CD (Blue Circle)
Year: 1998-1999
Quantity used at the YMCA: 1
Locations installed: Boys locker room (When I was 17 and younger thank you very much, don’t tell anyone. I turned 18 in June 2023 and this photo was taken in February 2023.)
Picture of the 4903-9142:
Alarm #3: Simplex 4903-9146 (This alarm is in very rough shape, unfortunately)
Strobe intensity: 15CD (Green Asterisk/Star)
Year: 1998-1999
Quantity used at the YMCA: 1
Locations installed: Mens locker room
Fun fact: These 15CD speaker strobes are actually 15/75CD, interestingly. I’m not joking, it’s actually true.
Picture of the 4903-9146:
Alarm #4: Simplex 4903-9357 speaker strobes:
Strobe intensity: 75CD
Year: 2002-2003
Quantity used at the YMCA: 5 (1 shown down below)
Locations installed: Weight room (4, 2 on each floor through a set of stairs), Classroom (1)
Fun fact: These speaker strobes are selectable for Free Run and SmartSync/Sync. The ones in the weight rooms are mounted weirdly. These are 75CD, so a little less bright than most of the 4903s here.
Pictures of a 4903-9357:
.
Alarm #5: Simplex 4903-9149 speaker strobes:
Strobe intensity: 110CD
Year: 2010’s-2020’s
Quantity used at the YMCA: 5 (2 shown down below)
Locations installed: Gymnasium (1), Pool area (4)
Fun fact: This is the much newer version of the 4903 speaker strobe. These 5 speaker strobes all replaced 4903-9144 speaker strobes.
Pictures of 4903-9149s:
Alarm #6: Simplex 4904-9137 remote strobes
Strobe intensity: 15CD (Green Asterisk/Star)
Year: 1999 (Newer Simplex logo prior to Simplex QuickAlert)
Quantity used at the YMCA: 8 (1 shown down below)
Locations installed: Hallway of kids (boys/girls) locker rooms (1), boys locker room bathroom area (1), mens locker room by the door of the main entrance (1), both single person restrooms (2, 1 in each), free weights room (1), fitness center room (1)
Fun fact: These 15CD strobes are actually 15/75CD, interestingly. I’m not joking, it’s actually true.
Picture of the 4904-9137:
Alarm #7: Simplex 4904-9135 remote strobes
Strobe intensity: 30CD (Blue Circle)
Year: 1999 (Newer Simplex logo prior to Simplex QuickAlert)
Quantity used at the YMCA: 2 (1 shown down below)
Locations installed: Boys locker room locker area (1), classroom (1)
Picture of the 4904-9135:
Alarm #8: Simplex 4904-9136 remote strobe:
Strobe intensity: 110CD (Orange Triangle)
Year: 1999 (Little black hole at the bottom of the strobe reflector)
Quantity used at the YMCA: 1
Locations installed: Fitness center room
Picture of the 4904-9136:
Alarm #9: Simplex 4904-9168 remote strobe:
Strobe intensity: 15CD
Year: 2010’s
Quantity used at the YMCA: 1
Locations installed: Mens locker room bathroom area (renovated in 2012)
Fun fact: This strobe is Free Run! A fixed candela modern day strobe is either going to be the 4904-9168 (15CD), 4904-9169 (75CD) or 4904-9170 (110CD) free run remote strobes. This particular one is 15CD.
Pictures of the 4904-9168:
Alarm #10: Simplex 4906-9101 remote strobes (These alarms are mounted on the ceiling with is against code):
Strobe intensity: 15, 30, 75, 110CD (All set on 15CD)
Year: 2010’s
Quantity used at the YMCA: 4
Locations installed: Mens locker room locker area (renovated in 2012)
Fun fact: These strobes are SmartSync. These are in fact the only SmartSync TrueAlerts in this YMCA. These are mounted on the ceiling which is against code; the ceiling mounted version is the 4906-9102 and the selectable ceiling mount remote strobes are the 4904-9183/9184/9185. These were installed during the same year as that 4904-9168, except they are completely syncable.
Pictures of a 4906-9101:
1 Like
Fire Alarms at the Kinzie Hotel in Chicago, IL
Simplex QuickAlert 75CD remote strobe (This is either a Simplex 4904-9169 or 4904-9332)
Simplex QuickAlert 110CD remote strobe (This is either a Simplex 4904-9170 or 4904-9333)
This one has an Orange Triangle to indicate the 110CD!
Simplex 4904-9164 110CD Ceiling strobe (RARE!) with both wall and ceiling lettering
A Wheelock remote speaker of some sort. These were the speakers, the QuickAlerts were the strobes
I’ll admit, this was quite an interesting ADA compliant system from 1999! I’m assuming the hotel was built in 2000.
1 Like
That’s likely a Wheelock E70-R.
That doesn’t make sense though: you can’t put in the system before the hotel is built! (unless you’re implying the devices were sourced in 1999 even though the hotel wasn’t built until a year later, which you do see with some systems)
Fire Alarms at the Boston Prudential Center/Copley Square Plaza (One building was constructed in 1983 and the other in 1993)
Simplex 4903-9105+Various speakers
Simplex 2902 Speakers
Gentex GXS-4-HWR (same strobe as 4903-9105)
Simplex 4903-9357 (75CD), there were a bunch of these early 2000’s speaker strobes installed in one section
Simplex 4903-9358 (110CD)
Simplex 4903-9359 (15CD)
Simplex 4903-9146 (15CD, later model)
Simplex 4903-9144/4903-9149 (110CD, most of the 4903 speaker strobes were only 15CD, unfortunately, I was hoping for 30 and 110CD models, there were several of these things mounted on the ceiling, which is not a fail because the wall and ceiling 4903s/4904s use the same lenses!)
Simplex 4903-9147 (15CD, later model, there was a bunch of these installed in one section)
Simplex 4906-9151 (Multi CD, set at 110CD)
Simplex 4906-9153 (Multi CD, set at 110CD)
Simplex 4906-9154 (Multi CD, set at 75 or 110CD?)
Simplex 4906-9103 (Set on 75CD)
EST Genesis Speaker strobes (Both wall and ceiling)
Space Age VA4/A32 strobe plates with speakers attached to them (I love Space Age!)
Space Age AV34 Light Plate (Very chunky size, but lovely!)
System Sensor SpectrAlert Advance Weatherproof Remote strobes (Not shown)
Wheelock AS Horn strobes in a Star Market Grocery store nearby (Not Simplex!)
There’s probably many more models I missed; correct me if I’m wrong; there could’ve been some Simplex QuickAlert or 4904 remote strobes installed too as well as other EST speaker strobes. Love the variety here!
1 Like
Nishu Bowmen Club Indoor Archery Range-
Mandan, ND
Panel- Siemens SXL-EX
Pull Stations- Siemens MS-51’s
Smoke Detectors- Siemens OP-121’s
Notification Appliances- Siemens ZH-MC-R horn/strobes and ZR-MC-R remote strobes
Note:
This system seems to have an abundance of audible coverage. It seems like they tried to avoid using remote strobes as much as possible. For example, there is a small classroom that has two horn/strobes. The only place where there are remote strobes is in the restrooms.
Lighthouse Point (DCL private island)
EST 3 Systems with G1AVRF‘s for NA’s and Siga-278’s for pulls. I didn’t see any smokes but all the buildings were sprinkled. Every building regardless of size is tied into a system I think. I think this because a small bathroom had a system and sprinklers.
1 Like
Update: most of the pulls were replaced with Edwards 278s behind Stopper Covers. The guestrooms have low frequency sounders.
2 Likes